Weekly Review: End of an Era (FF #16) and the Start of One (A-N Invaders #1)

FF #16: For All We Have And Are(Written by Lee Allred/Matt Fraction, Drawn by Laura/Mike Allred, epilogue written by Lee Allred/Karl Kesler, drawn by Joe Quinones.)

My first reviewing job I ever got was FF #3 over at Spider-Man Crawlspace, so it kind of saddens me that the first of these two reviews is the end of the Future Foundation title. This book will not be continuing into a volume 3, though James Robinson (upcoming writer of Fantastic Four, Starman) has expressed some interest in the kids.

Looking at the book itself, it’s quite possibly the most heart felt conclusion to a series I’ve seen. Which is weird, considering how the majority of this issue is centered around Scott Lang (Ant-Man) getting his comeuppance against the man who killed his daughter. The way in which he does so sets up a fantastic status quo for Scott Lang, which leads me to believe the solo Ant-Man book rumors are probably about a book starring him not Hank Pym (Paul Rudd starring as Lang in Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man film helps too.) Not only does Scott find love and family in the end, but they hint that his new discovery might hold a bright future for Cassie Lang fans.

The second half of the book focuses on the cast of both Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation throwing a party once the day is saved. Uatu and Silver Surfer show up (setting up both the Allred’s Silver Surfer book and Original Sin) to bring some cosmic fun. We get to check in with all of the children before the final page and it reminds us that they are the foundation of the future, even if they don’t have a book at the moment. Good heart warming stuff, beautifully drawn by the Allreds.

9/10

All-New Invaders is the first of two books that brings James Robinson back to Marvel (the second being the relaunched Fantastic Four). A-N Invaders takes the concept of The Invaders (Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Namor, Jim Hammond, but no Toro) and twists it on it’s head by having them defend the planet from invading Kree, with a focus on new villain Tanalith the Pursuer. Her motivations aren’t all that fleshed out, but she appears to be looking for some device that the Invaders encountered back in World War Two, even though that memory has been wiped from their minds.

The focus this issue is on Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. Robinson acknowledges his recent past in Secret Avengers (where he was villianized) but doesn’t linger on it. However, what we do get of Hammond’s life isn’t particularly grabbing. Thankfully Cap and Winter Soldier show up at the end and the twist with Namor at the end might have this team invading once again, just not on Earth.

A-N Invaders is also the first project Steve Pugh has done for Marvel since the early 2000s. The style he brings to A-N Invaders is much more generic than the stuff he has been working on elsewhere though and while it does have some umph during the fight scenes, it doesn’t bring much to the slower moments and Bucky looks like he just stepped out of some manga. There’s not much here to keep you interested, but I’ll give it a few more issues with the team as a whole (fingers crossed for some Ronan before too long as well) before invading some other comic book.